Cooler with a Drop Liner

ABSTRACT

The cooler is very efficient at keeping certain food items cooler or at least partially frozen. The standard cooler is ideal for boating trips, camping trips and has been in existence for many years. The one drawback is that as the ice melts in the cooler, food items may become soggy and it is not desirable to store items such as cell phones in a cooler because of the danger of water exposure. With the application a drop liner is incorporated into the cooler that will provide the benefits of the cooler while at the same time allow personal items to be stored in the cooler. The drop liner is removable for easy cleaning.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

One of the challenges in having a cooler is to ensure that the food stays cool while at the same not creating a mess with melted ice. With most coolers, the beverages and the food items that needs to stay cool or frozen are placed in a layer of ice which does provide a needed relief in terms of freezing items and making sure that those items remain cold. However, as the ice melts, food which may or may not need to or get wet does in fact get wet.

PRIOR ART

There are many references that teach feature that are related to coolers. This application teaches a removable cooler and a prior art reference that discusses this feature can be found at Matthews, U.S. Pat. No. D773,238. This reference is different from the current application because the current application teaches a removable drop liner with an opening in the center of the drop liner so that the user can add ice to cool the items within the cooler while at the same time protecting the contents of the cooler from water contamination.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The standard cooler is basically a rectangular cube. In the usual cooler, items are placed in the device and ice is placed on top of the items that need to be cooled or remain froze. Typical items include beverages such as water, beer or sodas and typical food items may include meats that need to remain cool or eggs that should be kept cool. As the ice melts water may inevitably enter spaces and may soak food that the user may or may not want wet.

In this particular application, a drop liner has been constructed so that the layer of ice can be put on the bottom in order to cool the items as anticipated but a non-porous drop liner is placed on top of the ice. Some items that still need to be frozen could be placed in the ice layer but the ice is not intended to enter the interior contents of the drop liner to prevent soaking other food items. With this construction the user of this device would feel comfortable placing a cell phone or a wallet in the interior of the liner without any worry of these items getting wet.

An opening in the drop liner is also provided so that additional ice may be added as the ice melts.

There may be different configurations of this drop liner including an opening at the center or an opening on the side of the liner to accommodate different configurations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a front isometric exposed view of the cooler showing that the cooler structure of the drop liner and the top of the cooler.

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the liner with the liner installed showing its placement inside the cooler.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the liner placed inside the cooler.

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the cooler and liner.

FIG. 5 is an alternative embodiment showing the opening for the drop liner to the side and slightly elevated to the level of the top of the cooler.

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of the alternative embodiment as depicted in FIG. 5.

NUMBERING REFERENCES

-   -   5—Cooler     -   6—Cooler Top     -   10—Drop liner     -   15—Opening in the drop liner     -   16—Drop Liner sides     -   20—Alternative Embodiment Drop Liner Sides     -   25—Alternative Embodiment Opening in the Drop Liner

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

This application contemplates two different embodiments but both embodiments involve the use of a drop liner that is placed in the interior of a cooler; the drop liner is placed above the bottom surface of the cooler. The principal behind both embodiments is the same. Ice in placed in the opening of the drop liner to cool the items that have been placed in the drop liner but prevents the ice that is between the bottom surface of the cooler and the bottom of the drop liner to prevent the ice as it melts from soaking the items in the cooler. In the first embodiment the opening is in the center of the drop liner while in the second embodiment the opening is placed on the side of the drop liner.

The food and beverage cooler 5 is a rectangular cube with a top lid 6. The top lid is removable. In normal practice various food items are placed in the cooler and ice is placed on top of and around the various food items to ensure that they remain cool. With a typical cooler an individual would hesitate to keep items such as cell phones or wallets in the interior of the cooler for fear of water damage to those items.

First Embodiment

In the first embodiment of this application a non-porous drop liner 10 is placed in the interior of the cooler. An opening 15 in the approximate center of the drop liner 10 would allow an individual to put ice so that it can be placed on the bottom of the cooler between the bottom of the cooler and the bottom of the drop liner. The drop liner 10 would be constructed of sides 16 that flare upward towards the opening 15 to provide the required height of the drop liner in order to ensure that the ice remains out of the interior of the cooler. This will enable the items to stay relatively cool but also water free. In this way, personal items such as phones and wallets can be placed in the entire cooler without fear of the item getting wet as the ice melts. The opening in the drop liner 15 is also large enough so that if a person wanted to put several beverages in the opening, the opening would be large enough to accommodate that as well. Additionally, the opening is large enough so that if ice needed to be added, the user could simply add ice into the opening. The additional ice will become necessary as the ice melts.

Second Embodiment

In the second embodiment, the opening in the drop liner 25 is placed on one end of the drop liner and may be slightly higher taller than the opening in the drop liner than in the first embodiment. The drop liner in the second embodiment also has flared sides 20 that give it the required height to ensure that the ice can be added while at the same time preventing the ice from contaminating items in the interior of the cooler. The principle of keeping food items cool and dry is the same in either embodiment. In either embodiment additional ice may be added through the opening 25 in the drop liner. 

The inventor claims:
 1. A cooler with a drop liner, which is comprised of: a drop liner; said drop liner is constructed of a non-porous material; wherein the drop liner is removable; wherein an opening is provided in the approximate center of the drop liner; wherein the opening is large enough to add ice; wherein the drop liner has a predetermined size; wherein the drop liner is elevated above the bottom surface of the cooler.
 2. A cooler with a drop liner, which is comprised of: a drop liner; said drop liner is constructed of a non-porous material; wherein the drop liner is removable; wherein an opening is provided on the side of the drop liner; wherein the opening is large enough to add ice; wherein the drop liner has a predetermined size; wherein the drop liner is elevated above the bottom surface of the cooler. 